A realistic
and relevant story

Set
in New York, Vishwaroopam is the story of Kathak teacher ‘Wiz’ Vishwanath
(Kamal Hassan), his Tam Bram wife Dr. Nirupama, a neuro oncologist (Pooja
Kumar) and their involvement in an evidently ambitious conspiracy by the
villain, an Afghani Al-Qaeda Jihadi, Omar (Rahul Bose) to destroy New York. You
can read the detailed plot here.

With
the bold, honest story line that captures the ongoing war against al-Qaeda
Vishwaroopam is an exception in its genre of Tamil spy-action-thrillers. It is
also a refreshing break from the boy meets girl framework that our movies are notorious for.

Intelligent
direction

Vishwaroopam
is a movie that is surprisingly and intelligently detached from the tricky
subject of religion - any religion for that matter. There - I said it.

Having
watched the movie, I am quite sad that it hasn’t received its first day first
show celebration in Tamil Nadu, yet. The movie is so tactfully made that it
leaves little room for religious fanaticism and bigotry. This is India, not
Iran we are talking about.

You
know, I am so tempted to take my Kashmiri Muslim bestie Raheel Khursheed to
watch this movie with me, for I am confident, he too will agree that there is
an unmistakable focus on al-Qaeda terrorists with absolutely no comment on , suggestion of or allusion to Islam or those who practice it.

In
addition, Kamal makes it his sole purpose to smash propaganda and media driven
stereotypes. That is why you have the chicken loving Tam-Bram Dr. Nirupama,
indulging in an affair, a mockery of the stereotypical curd rice licking,
‘Rascala’ obsessive Tam-Bram as popularly depicted by Shah Rukh Khan. That is
why an al-Qaeda terrorist Omar’s young son speaks in fluent English announcing
his ambition to become a doctor. The guy who is expected to detonate a bomb is
Nigerian – not Afghani, not Pakistani, not Arab. The nuclear oncologist who is
likely to save New York is a woman…and in response to a NYPD officer’s question
about God, Dr. Nirupama retorts “My God has four arms and we dunk him in the sea”.
Kudos to Kamal for directing a clever movie that tramples on clichés.

Serious
performance #Likeaboss

Rahul
Bose as the Afghani al-Qaeda terrorist is deeply authentic. His artificial eye
makes you squirm and his unsettling performance makes him a convincing
antagonist. Despite an annoying Tam-Bram delivery and a constant perplexed look
on her face, it is easy to accept Pooja Kumar as a nuclear oncologist, may be
because she comes with little baggage.

Andreah
Jeremiah is nothing more than a nice-to-have distraction adding prettiness to
the why-so-serious moments of the film. Shekar Kapur, Nasser, Zarina Wahab and Jaideep
Ahlawat bring elegance to their characters in an otherwise unemotional and grim
storyline.

Undoubtedly,
Kamal shines throughout the two and half hours. One cannot miss the deliberate
effeminate steps he takes as he runs to a ringing phone (aah!) or the
hopelessness in his face when a young Jihadi’s life is lost…living and
breathing his character with a maturity that comes with age, experience and to an
actor of his calibre. One must deeply thank him for a realistic performance in
the action sequences and for staying away from donning multiple roles.

With
the absence of the standard, irrelevant,
unwanted-running-down-snow–capped-mountains-song sequence and a parallel
Santhanam comedy track, the screen play remains tight, logical and delightful.

In
my feeble attempt to draw comparisons and elaborate what a ‘next-level’ Tamil
movie Hassan has made, I am tempted to declare that some of the warfare scenes
are as gripping as that of Zero Dark Thirty.
In what might be the first time for Tamil cinema, here is a three point
five to four star rated movie that can confidently compete with its Hollywood
counterparts on the subject of international espionage.

Vishwaroopam
is truly Kamal’s magnum opus - a brave, artistic, beautifully made, realistic, tightly
edited piece. Look at it as an arresting
tale of global terrorism and you will see how Kamal Hassan has justified his
title, Ulaganaayakan.